Elsie Dupont was a Walloon noblewoman whose romance with Gaspard Lefebvre became the catalyst for some of the most pivotal and bizarre events of the revolutionary era. They first met in the spring of 1795 while Lefebvre was reorganizing the Army of the Rhine; although the general fell instantly in love, Elsie initially rejected his advances. It was only after his masterful victory against the Austrians at the Battle of the Valley of Upper Vltava that he secured her affections. In August 1796, defying military protocol, Lefebvre traveled directly to her estate in Seneffe, interrupting a gathering with her friends to dramatically present her with the surrendered sword of the Austrian General von Hohenberg. This grand gesture won her heart, and the two began a high-profile relationship that saw the general taking up residence at her estate during his periods of political exile.

Her historical significance, however, lies in the inadvertent geopolitical chaos caused by her casual desires. In June 1799, during a conversation over tea, Elsie mentioned her interest in a specific ancient Egyptian ceramic mug she had heard about. Motivated solely by the desire to acquire this token for her, Lefebvre raised a private army of 35,000 men and launched an unauthorized invasion of the Egyptian Sultanate. This romantic crusade triggered a cascade of violence that destabilized the Near East, drew the Eastern Roman Empire into the war as a French ally against the Egyptians, and cost thousands of French lives in the desert, all so Lefebvre could successfully retrieve the kitchenware, which he presented to her upon his release from prison in 1801.

Beyond her role as an accidental instigator of war, Elsie also played a crucial part in the survival of the French Republic. When the armies of the Second Coalition crushed French defenses in 1803 and threatened to occupy the entire country, Lefebvre refused to intervene, paralyzed by the fear that the Council would execute him for treason if he mobilized again. It was Elsie who cut through his hesitation, reasoning that the Council's laws would be meaningless if France ceased to exist. Her counsel convinced him to defy his house arrest and march south, leading to the decisive French victory at Tarare. Thus, she stands as a unique figure in history: a woman whose whims sparked imperial conquests and whose advice saved a nation.